Mercury, meteor shower on display

GOOD VISIBILITY: The planet Mercury will be easier to see than usual during the mornings early this week. COURTESY OF ROYAL OBSERVATORY

Monday-Tuesday: Mercury, which is usually hard to find, can be seen 10 degrees above the east-northeast about 5:30 a.m. It'll be just below Venus.

Monday: UC Berkeley researcher Andrew Westphal, a member of the Stardust comet sample return mission, will be Mat Kaplan's guest on Planetary Radio, starting at 5:30 p.m. Turn to KUCI/88.9 FM or www.kuci.uci.edu.

Wednesday: There will be a full moon. Watch it rise above the east-southeast about 9 p.m.

Saturday: Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory, will give a talk that "connects the skies of ancient Egypt to the pyramids and tombs in the Valley of Kings" when he appears at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday-Sunday:The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak overnight. The heaviest part of the show will occur before dawn Sunday.

VIDEO:A video version of this report available at ocregister.com.

Contact the writer: Register science editor Gary Robbins can be reached at (714) 796-7970 or grobbins@ocregister.com. Read his daily science blog at blogs.ocregister.com/sciencedude.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.